Accidentally told my coworker what I make, BIG ISSUES NOW

Nurses Relations

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Hi all! So I am relatively a new graduate (3 months prior experience) before landing a job at a SNF. I have only been there for a week and although I was told during the interview that I would be working nights, my manager wanted me on the 3-11 shift to learn admissions for a month. I've been working with this RN for about 2 days now and shes really nice. We talk about out personal lives and etc. (For example she had a daughter by someone who is the same ethnic background as me..etc). So I'm explain my experience from my last job at a large teaching hospital and simply mention that I am taking a pay cut but its worth it because I want the experience. She then asks "Oh what are they starting you at." I stupidly tell her my wage (37) and didn't think anything of it. I explain that I usually leave the part on the application where it says to put your desired wage blank but this time around I put a high wage (I was getting paid 5 dollars more at my last job than this one.) She then says oh wow your very lucky and that they didnt start her at that wage and she put 38 on her application but management told her that they couldn't afford to pay her that. Anyways she says I'm lucky and we leave it at that.

My next day, I notice that she is acting a bit different but didn't think anything of it...it is a stressful job however. I do notice however that we dont seem to see eachother at all and that she didn't teach the the computer system (the most important part) but is teaching the other new hire the computer system. When I sit down to observe so I can learn the phone rings. She quickly looks at me and says "Can you answer the phone in a dismissive tone." Again, didn't think anything of it.

When night shift comes on, one of the night nurses says its her last day. No body knows why it seems very VERY abrupt because nobody talked about it before. I see her and this other nurse(my preceptor I suppose) kind of talking privately. This nurse that resigned was a nice girl and I ask "Oh where are you going?" All she says is "Somewhere." which again I thought was a bit odd.

The next day my manager comes up to me and asks me to meet him in his office. By his tone I can tell something was wrong but have no idea. He asks me if I told anyone my wage and I said yes to my preceptor. He then informs me that 1 nurse (the night nurse) quit because of it and that 2 more are considering quitting. I explain that it was naive and I didn't know i confided in her. He tells me she is not your friend, she went and told everyone and that she is already treating you differently. He then says next shift you will be on nights, I need to get you away from them. EVERYTHING now makes sense to me.

Sorry for the long post but what should I do or is there anything that I can do to rectify this situation. Should I confront/talk to this nurse who went and talked about me to everyone? I do not know how much the other nurses are making and had NO IDEA I was even making more than them. IDK if its because I have my BSN or bc they knew I wouldn't have accepted a job or a wage any lower when I was making $5 more at my last job. I feel HORRIBLY about this especially because our SNF is already so short-staffed.

I think think it was the last straw for her and definetely the reason she left so abruptly. She wanted to make a statement. There are plenty of issues at this snf that many people on this board talk about at other snfs as well, including staffing issues . On my 2nd day there I was the only RN on the shift (scary!)

Thanks again, don't know yet how I'll break it to them

Certainly that isn't why she left. May have contributed though. I would have definitely been suspicious about someone blatantly asking me about my salary. TMI... Like many of the others have stated, let it ride. Trust is earned, not given. Congratulations on your new job!

Where are you at? I'm in Texas dfw

Specializes in Behavioral Health.
Nope. Still having a hard time believing that rate. Sorry. If you do actually get that rate, good for you.

New grads with a BSN in Portland make $37/hour straight pay, $40 if they're per diem, plus $6 for night shift. West coast is the best coast. Also, unions (because pay scales are published online for me to find for you).

If OP lives in California I would expect they make more, especially if they live in the LA or SF areas.

. . . You say, " at this point I could care less if any of my coworkers saw this forum. . ." This tells me at about your version of the story. Life has many lessons to teach you. Psych nurse here just sayin' ;)

Extra Pickles I did think long and hard about putting my actual wage on this board and did it simply to later ask if this seemed like a "higher than usual" salary for a SNF. Primarily bc my sister would say that it is. At this point I can care less if any of my coworkers saw this forum, at least they would see it from my pov. Ive seen plenty of posts on here where people have told numbers.

NPs in my state make (average) $35.00 but most are on salary so you have to divide it out. I have 10 years experience as an NP and I make $32.00/hr (although I am on salary so I divided by my average # of WORKED hours/wk, no compensation for on call 24/7/365.)

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
NPs in my state make (average) $35.00 but most are on salary so you have to divide it out. I have 10 years experience as an NP and I make $32.00/hr (although I am on salary so I divided by my average # of WORKED hours/wk, no compensation for on call 24/7/365.)
That's shockingly low pay for an experienced nurse practitioner...too low for the level of accountability, responsibility, and prescriptive authority.

I am in a lower cost-of-living state (Texas) and was earning $33/hr as an RN floor nurse with an associate degree and one year of experience back in 2011.

Nope. Still having a hard time believing that rate. Sorry. If you do actually get that rate, good for you.

Then don't believe it. My good friend made $38 with less than a year of experience at a new hospital just because he asked for it. They offered him lower at first and he refused. Another friend who just got her first job is starting out making $32, and these are in southern states where statistically you're supposed to earn the least per hour compared to everywhere else.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Interesting. Where I work, everyone has the same pay scale, same raises at the same hours-worked steps.

That's pretty common, actually. Everyone can figure out exactly how much everyone else makes by asking them how long they've worked here and how long they've been a nurse.

Well said, these are the exact 2 areas that I am talking about. Per diem at my former hospital was a whopping $78 an hour.

New grads with a BSN in Portland make $37/hour straight pay, $40 if they're per diem, plus $6 for night shift. West coast is the best coast. Also, unions (because pay scales are published online for me to find for you).

If OP lives in California I would expect they make more, especially if they live in the LA or SF areas.

Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Wow! I I'm surprised to know that folks don't realize that it is not appropriate to discuss salaries in the workplace. Many institutions even have it as per part of their corporate policies and procedures that salary is not to be discussed other than with HR.

WHICH IS AGAINST THE LAW AND ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WOMEN MAKE LESS THAN MEN FOR THE SAME JOBS.

Yes, I was shouting.

Hmm, I actually don't know what you mean by your statement. Clarification is welcome (:

. . . You say, " at this point I could care less if any of my coworkers saw this forum. . ." This tells me at about your version of the story. Life has many lessons to teach you. Psych nurse here just sayin' ;)
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
The OP has been at her job for two weeks -- in all likelihood she's still on probation. They don't NEED a reason to fire her.

I'd still love to see it happen. A good attorney could easily prove that it was due to the salary disclosure, assuming there was no documentation suggesting that there were any performance issues.

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